Downtown Abbotsford Rocks With The Sound Of Electric Blues
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
For the second straight year we were fortunate enough to be asked to play the annual Abbotsford Berrybeat Festival. This 2-day event closes off the historic downtown core of the city to cars, as local farmers, merchants, and community groups set up shop on the main streets of Abbotsford for a street festival.
At the centre of the 4 city blocks that the Berrybeat Festival takes place in, sits the entertainment stage. For 2 days you’ll see and hear acts as varied as: country, opera, funk, gospel, Flamenco guitar, pop, and of course blues.
We very much appreciate & want to thank the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association for inviting us back again this year. It’s always a pleasure to play for the residents, and the visitors to the city in which we live. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, they liked what they heard.
Thanks to everyone who was there, and applauded wildly & cheered between songs. (Yes, we heard you. 
) Putting together a set of music for a group as diverse as those attending a street festival is always a challenge. We’re glad that you liked what we had to offer.
A special thanks also to the combined sound crew from Tom Lee Music and A&D Music. These great folks make our job so much easier. All we have to do is show up and play. Their job is to make us sound great. Thanks to all of you. You were fantastic!
Here are some photos that were taken during our show on Sunday, July 5. The weather was quite hot, and there was some humidity. The audience was mostly sitting in the shade under the tents, or standing in the shade of the buildings to escape the worst of the heat. Luckily the performance stage has a good-sized canopy over it, so we were sheltered from the sun.
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
Here is Deception’s founder and leader, Art Panchishin. Art has been well known in the musical community around these parts for many years. His blues playing is second-to-none.
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
Gary Huntbatch has a most impressive resume when it comes to drumming. It goes back to his days as a young man in England, when the band he was in had its own TV show.
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
Steve Fultz has been playing bass with Deception since the band started in the mid 1990s. He, like Art, has been a constant in the musical community in Abbotsford for many years.
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
Saxophonist Helen Kahlke, while maybe the newest member of the band, certainly isn’t a wall flower. She has many years of pro playing experience under her belt both here on the West Coast, and in the Maritimes where she lived for 8½ years.
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
This is a nice shot of Helen’s most commonly used horn: her Selmer Mark VI, tenor sax.
Photo by M. Margison ©2009
This was the view the sound crew had from their vantage point.
Deception is the Abbotsford-based blues band formed in the mid-90s by guitar player Art Panchishin.